Alone
by gleek06216
Summary: Mike Matt and Puck realize Rachel needs a friend but when they can't get her to hang out outside of school they follow her and are shocked at what they find. The girl is more alone then they thought. AU: Description inside.
1. Chapter 1

**Two shot AU: Puckleberry and Babygate never happened, Rachel doesn't moon after Finn, she's in Glee but she isn't close to any of them.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of the show, sadly**

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Rachel Berry doesn't lie. She just doesn't always correct people when they assume wrong about her life. Such as when she brings up she has two fathers. It's not her fault that people believe that she is well cared for by said parents when the truth is she hasn't seen them or the inside of her home in four years. Also, people thinking Rachel wears super short skirts and horribly ugly sweaters because she's making a statement that she doesn't care what people think. She wants them to think that so she doesn't correct them and say it's actually because it's the only things the small clothing give away has that fit her.

Rachel declines rides home everyday from Tina not because she likes the exercise and the fresh air, as she claims but because she doesn't want to explain why she gets dropped off at the dance studio and doesn't need a ride home.

See the truth is, that Rachel Berry's after school activities do not, in fact, involve singing lessons and dance lessons, or at least not lessons for herself. Rachel's after school activities involved teaching dance classes, giving vocal lessons and cleaning up the dance studio. She spent all of her free time with these jobs because they paid her room and board at the dance studio, where she had lived for the past four years, ever since her parents kicked her out for 'not being the daughter they wanted', saying they wanted to get on with their lives and forget the mistake they made in having her in the first place.

Nobody at school knows any of this. As far as they are concerned, she is just that crazy diva that everyone picks on. No one sees that she is only this driven and determined to be the best because it's the only way to make a life for herself. None of them understand what it's like for her because they all have a home to go to after school, a bed they don't have to work for to sleep in, someone to cook for them and someone to love them. Rachel Berry? She has none of that. She's one hundred percent alone in her life so it's not her fault that she's a little insane in her need for perfection. In her life, it's not insane, it's necessary.

* * *

That day at school, starts like any other. Rachel gets up at 5, gets ready and gives a dance lesson from 6 to 7. She then showers and rushes to school, getting there in time to put her books in her locker and runs to the library to finish any homework she has left from the day before.

She then leaves to head to homeroom, this is where she's reminded how much of a persona non grata she is in this school and is introduced to a slushy facial.

When any of her fellow glee mates gets slushied in front of her, she's the first to help them out but when she gets slushied, none of them ever stepped up to help. At least none had before. The first situation that should have told her things were about to change happened at this point. She left the library and headed to her homeroom, like every day and like most days, Karofsky and his goons came by and threw slushies on her. There she stood covered in the sticky colored ice, wiping the syrup out of her eyes before bending down to pick up the books she had dropped when she saw a hand holding a book out to her.

She followed the hand up to a face and was surprised to see Mike standing there, frowning. She then heard the bang and straightened up, quickly and turning around to see Karofsky and his right hand man, Andrews pinned to the lockers by Noah and Matt.

"Never again," Noah growled at them.

Rachel's eyebrows shot up, as she tried to understand what was happening. She turned to Mike, taking the book from his still outstretched hand, "Thank you Michael. I'm going to go get cleaned up, now. Thank Noah and Mathew for me." And with that she hurried back to her locker before he could say anything.

Once at her locker, she remembered that today was laundry day so she hadn't brought a spare set of clothes.

She banged her head against her locker before closing it and slipping into the nearest girls washroom. She quickly washed her hair and face off before deciding to just head back to the dance studio. She wouldn't normally skip class, but she couldn't walk around in these clothes. She figured she'd walk there, change and come back in time for her afternoon classes.

She headed out of the washroom and to the doors that lead to outside. She didn't realize that there was anyone following her until she got halfway across the parking lot.

"Berry" She heard and quickly turned to see Noah standing there, hands in his pockets, staring at her.

"Can I help you with something, Noah? She asked.

"Where are you going?" He asked instead of answering her.

"I forgot to bring a spare set of clothes so I'm going to run home and change" She answered, not looking at him.

"Come back, I have a spare jersey and Chang has a pair of shorts that'll fit you if you tie the string up tight"

Rachel was already shaking her head, "It's fine, Noah. I'll just run home and be back in time for afternoon classes. It's not a big deal."

Noah rolled his eyes, "We both know that you don't want to miss class. You shouldn't let those assholes do that to you."

She kept her mouth shut, not reminding him that up until a few months ago, he was one of those assholes and just nodded her assent.

He motioned her back inside the school and headed to the boys locker room. He motioned her to stay where she was and slipped inside the locker room, grabbing the promised clothes and coming out to hand them to her. She walked into the girls locker room that was across from the one he had came out of and quickly changed into the clothes he had given her.

Even with tying the shorts as tight as the could be and tying a knot in the side of the shirt, she still looked like she was swimming in the clothes but at least they were clean. Walking out, she was surprised to see Noah waiting for her.

He smirked at her, "Looking good, Berry"

She rolled her eyes, "I seriously doubt that Noah, but thank you for the clothes anyway. I'll bring your jersey back tomorrow"

He shrugged, "Not a big deal"

They stood there, awkwardly for a few moments before Rachel finally asked what she'd been dying to know since the incident, never one to beat around the bush she bluntly asked, "Why did you guys help me?"

Noah shrugged again, looking at her saying "You're one of our teammates. No one does that shit to our team."

She shook her head, "Try again"

"What?" He asked, confused.

"Noah, I've been your 'Teammate' for months, these slushies have been happening the whole time, so if that was the truth it would have happened months ago."

He frowned at her but didn't deny she was right, instead he said, "We should have stopped it months ago, but we're stopping it now. Gotta start somewhere"

She knew he was avoiding a real answer but also knew that was the best she'd get so she nodded, giving him a small smile, "Whatever the reason, I appreciate it. Thank you. I'm going to head to class"

He nodded, "See ya"

* * *

And with that they went their separate ways. The rest of the morning, Rachel pretended not to hear the whispers about her in 'Puck's jersey' and about the boys threatening the hockey team earlier. She went on with her day as normal as she could.

Come lunch, she went through the line, grabbing a salad and a water as usual and walking to her table in the back corner. Same as every other day this past year.

Second difference happened then. She heard trays sliding on to her table with her. When she looked up, she saw Matt and Mike sliding in across from her.

Matt smiled at her and Mike said, "Hey Rach, what's up?" As if he sat there everyday.

"Hello, Michael, Mathew. Did you need something?"

Matt shook his head and again Mike spoke up, "Nah, we're good. How're you doing?"

She cocked an eyebrow at that but replied, "I'm doing fine, thank you."

And went back to eating her lunch halfway listening to Mike prattle on about some new musical group he had started listening too. Another tray slid beside her and she didn't even have to look up to know it was Noah. She did look up however and there his green eyes were, smiling over at her."Sup, Berry? Chang driving you crazy yet?"

She gave him a small smile and shook her head, "Michael has been perfectly wonderful company"

Noah chuckled, "You must be tuning him out like the rest of us then, if you think that"

Mike glared at him and threw a fry at his head in response, which Noah just grabbed and popped into his mouth, causing Mike to glare harder.

Rachel watched the whole exchange amused but also confused as to why they were suddenly hanging around her.

She listened to their conversations, talking when forced but observing mostly and she was surprised at how easy they all were around each other and her. In Glee none of them talked much. Matt and Mike said maybe ten words between them in practice and Noah only spoke to flirt or intimidate but here Mike was a regular chatterbox and though still quiet, Matt talked more at that lunch period then she'd heard him talk all year in glee. Noah was the real surprise because she saw he was genuinely enjoying the conversations, the banter and the mini food fights. He wasn't acting at all like the badass persona he put on for most people but more like a regular teenage boy goofing with his friends. It was fascinating to her.

When the lunch bell rang, signaling the end of lunch, Mike grabbed her trash and put it on his tray. She thanked him, hopping up to go to her locker. She realized she was being followed so she turned and saw Matt walking beside her.

They walked side by side to her locker, not saying anything but they got there, he leaned against the locker next to hers and waited for her to grab her books for her next class.

"Matt? Can I ask you something?"

He nodded so she went on, "Why do you three suddenly feel the need to be around me?"

He frowned and she knew he wasn't going to answer her but he surprised her, "We just realized how hard this year must have been on you."

She cocked an eyebrow at him before asking, "What do you mean?"

He shrugged, looking down at his feet, "Everyone in glee has at least one person that they can go to if something bad happens, like a slushy or whatever. San and Brit are joined at the hip, Quinn and Finn are the golden couple, Mercedes and Kurt are diva soul mates, Artie and Tina are together, and Mike, Puck and I have been friends since pre school but you don't really talk to anyone. You're there if someone out here gets slushied or thrown in the dumpster but when it happens to you, you just go clean yourself off and go on with your day. No one else seems to notice but Mike and I were talking about it after glee the other day and then we told Puck and well here we are. Everyone needs a friend"

Rachel took a moment to process that the quiet boy in front of her, had indeed given her this speech, before she allowed the speech to sink in and for the first time since her parents had kicked her out, she felt the threat of tears prickling behind her eyes. She turned away so he wouldn't see it but was to slow and he had. He put his arm around her shoulder.

Instead of bringing up the almost tears however he said, "Come on let's get to class."

* * *

Just like that, Rachel made three new friends. She never realized how hard it was to have friends however. Because even though at school, she got used to having the three around and the rest of the school quickly learned to leave her alone, she was having more and more problems explaining why she couldn't hang out after school.

One day, a couple months into their friendship, Noah was particularly insistent. "Come on, Berry, cut lessons just this once and come over. I'll even rent the new Wicked Dvd and watch it without making any insulting comments."

She rolled her eyes at the bait but answered the same as everyday, "I can't just ditch my lessons, Noah. I've explained this to you, time and time again."

"You're explanations are bull shit, Berry and you know it. You have lessons everyday, including weekends. When you're not at lessons you're supposedly studying but refuse to study with us, or you're sleeping. Friends hang out you know."

She sighed but was saved from answering by Mike, "Dude, lay off. When she has time she'll hang out, right Rach?"

She smiled gratefully at Mike, nodding affirmative, "Of course, I would love to hang out with you outside of school. When I get a break form my lessons, you three will be the first I call, promise"

Mike seemed satisfied with that, as did Matt. Noah wasn't but he didn't argue right then, just made plans for future arguments.

Once Rachel headed to class, Mike turned to them, "We're following her after school today."

Now was Noah's turn to be shocked, "We're what?"

"Obviously she's hiding something from us and the only way to help her deal with it, is to know what it is and the only way to know what it is, is to follow her so we're following her." Mike reasoned.

Noah smirked then, "And here I thought you were going soft for Berry. You were really just turning into an evil mastermind."

Mike rolled his eyes, "I prefer ninja but whatever"

Puck and Matt snorted at that but didn't say anything to the contrary.

* * *

The school day passed quickly and Rachel ran out of school quickly, as usual, heading to the dance studio. She was unaware of the trio of boys following behind her. She got to the dance studio and quickly got ready for her first vocal lesson of the day. From the hours of 4 to 9 she gave three vocal lessons at an hour long a piece and one hour long dancing class with 20 students and one personal dancing lesson. Once they were all finished she walked out of the studio and went to the closet for the broom and dust pan, quickly cleaning up the studio and by 10 was ready to go to her room, eat a quick dinner and do some homework. That's what she planned to do but when she walked out the back of the studio to the stairs the led to the apartment above the studio, she was surprised to hear footsteps coming up the stairs behind her. Turning around she saw the three boys, all looking at her with questions in their eyes as well as concern.

Sighing she motioned them inside, figuring that she should have realized they'd do this eventually. Honestly she was surprised it took them this long.

Walking over to her mini fridge, she grabbed a bottle of water out of it and waited for the questions. After about five minutes of silence, Mike broke it, "You live here?"She nodded.

"Why?" He asked, confused.

"For how long?" Noah asked right after.

"Four years," she replied, making all their jaws drop.

"We were in 7th grade four years ago" Mike said, as if she didn't realize that.

She nodded, "I know"

Matt was the one that got wise and said, "Tell us everything"

She glared at him a little, why did he have to be the smart one? She thought to herself. Before quickly spilling out the story of her parents kicking her out and the owner of the dance studio taking her in as long as she helped out around the studio.

"So basically, they get free child labor for the price of you staying in this apartment?" Noah asked, sounding appalled at the thought.

"You've been working these hours and going to school for four years?" Mike asked, impressed and sad at the same time.

"You've been doing all this alone." Matt stated, frowning.

Noah hugged her, "I'm so sorry I was such an asshole to you!"

She pulled away, sharply "The reason I didn't' tell anyone is I don't want any pity. I'm fine. I've been fine for years and I'll continue to be fine"

Mike was the one to pull her to him then, "Rach, it's not pity, it's concern. There's a difference."

She pulled away from him too, still frowning, "I'm fine"

"You're sixteen, you shouldn't be on your own" Noah replied, stubbornly.

"And what am I suppose to do then?" She snapped, "Make myself a ward of the state and let them put me in some foster home or another for the next two years? No thank you"

"Come stay with me" He replied, not raising his voice to her tone.

Her mouth dropped, "What?"

"Come stay with me. My mom would love you and my sister already idolizes you from our concerts."

She shook her head, "There is no way I would impose on you or your family like that, Noah. I'm just fine where I am."

Matt was the one that said, "He's right, Rachel. If not with him then with one of us. All of our families would take you in when they heard what was going on with you. You're exhausting yourself with how you're going. It's not right"

"Not you too" she groaned at him, "I cannot impose on anyone like that. My own family couldn't stand to live with me" She reminded them.

"They're douche bags" Noah replied and then added, "I'm not taking no for an answer, Berry. Pick one of us, it doesn't have to be me but you're coming home with us, tonight. If you argue I'll just tell my mom what's going on and your choice goes out the window because she'll be down here before I can finish the story, guaranteed"

She glared at him, "Why can't you take no for an answer?"

He smirked at her, "No one tells Puckzilla no"

She rolled her eyes at the ridiculous nickname but finally sighed. "Are you sure?"

They all grinned at her, realizing they had won for once. It was rare to win an argument with Rachel Berry. "YES" They all said.

"Well why don't you three go talk to your families and decide what's best, while I pack?" She suggested, reasonably.

They all nodded in agreement, "We'll be back in an hour" Noah said, she nodded, hugging all three of them as they left.

* * *

Once they were gone, she did pack…a bag and started to head out the door. Right when she got down the stairs though she heard, "Going somewhere, Berry?"

She jumped at the sound of Noah's voice, "Noah, you scared me."

"I asked you a question" He replied.

She frowned but didn't answer, just said, "I thought you were going to talk to your mother.

"I realized it'd be easier to call." He shrugged, "she said you were to come home with me and we'd set you up in the guest room. I was coming up to tell you when I saw your door open."

She sighed, "I'm sorry, Noah. I just really don't like the feeling of imposing on someone's family. Especially for two years. That's a long time."

Noah shrugged, "I think it'll be kinda cool and Dani'll love having an older sister around to do chick things with. Mom works a lot so she's stuck with me most days."

Giving up, she nodded, "Alright but if it gets to be to much, promise you'll tell me so I don't overstay my welcome?"

He nodded, "Of course, Berry. I'll kick your ass out when I'm tired of you, and then get my ass kicked by my mother for kicking a girl out on the streets. Sounds like a plan" He said sarcastically.

She rolled her eyes but said, "Let's go. You should call Mike and Matt"

"Already did. Their parents were all for you going to their houses too, so you really did have a choice."

"Looks like I'm stuck with you now, though huh?" She teased.

He grinned and threw his arm around her, grabbing her bag with his other hand "Yep, mom's already got the wedding planned."

That made her stopped and sputtered, "What?"

He laughed then, "Joking, Berry. Well sort of. I told her you were Jewish and it kind of got her super excited and automatically assuming that us being two hot Jews and all, will fall to the fates of being together" He winked at her then.

She laughed then too, and they continued to walk the few blocks to his house.

* * *

Inside, she looked around, "Where's your family?"

"Mom's working, like I said and the brat's hanging out with Lopez's little sister for the night."

"Oh" She said, as she followed him to her new bedroom.

"Yep you're stuck with me for the night" He teased, "Any idea what we could do with the time?"

She rolled her eyes, "Noah, it's 12 am and I haven't started my homework yet. I'm exhausted and starving, sex is the last thing on my mind."

It was his turn to be shocked that she was so blunt about it, but he quickly recovered and said, "But once all of those problems are fixed, sex will be on your mind?" He waggled his eyebrows at her.

She gave him the look that comment deserved before saying, "Where's the kitchen?"

He sighed, but led her to the kitchen and watched her make spaghetti for the two of them.

"I thought you were vegetarian" He said, as he watched her make meat sauce.

"Salads are cheaper to get" She replied, shrugging as she finished dinner.

They ate in silence and then he left her to do her homework and get some sleep. He didn't wake her up for school the next day however. His mom had told him for the two of them to stay home so she could meet her new house daughter.

* * *

**Second part is already half written but I'm already up way later than I should be, this story started playing in my head as soon as I put up It's not you, It's them and lay down so I got up and started typing and now it's 6 so I cut it off because i'm getting up in 3 hours. I'll write the rest tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the delay, the very very long delay. I never meant for it to be pushed to the side but I wrote the first part and the first fourth or so of this chapter really late/early before bed one night and couldn't get back into it to finish until now. I was definitely astounded by the support and love for this story. You guys are all amazing but if I reply to every review like I do in most of my stories, it'll take up more than the story does ;) so I just want to say to all of you, I love you all and you guys encourage me more than you could ever know. Thanks so much.**

**Special Thanks to Unsuspecting Sunday Afternoon, CherryPower, RavenWolf2089, allielovesyou, kikky, Kkaty, stardust923,aussietasha, angel JJK, Opinionated1234,Gingergleek and lwrnld for always being some of the first to let me know how you feel and for making writing so much fun for me. (As well as reading your wonderful stories ;) ) love you guys! :D**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of the show, sadly**

* * *

When she woke up, she freaked out, as predicted, storming into Noah's room "Noah! We're late! First periods already over and second is halfway there. Get up!"

He sat up sleepily and noticing the blush that crossed her face looked down and saw that his boxers weren't very good protection for the morning. Especially after the dream he'd been having.

Instead of covering up however, he smirked at her and patted the bed beside him. She glared at him then, "School" She reminded him.

"Mom wanted us to stay home today. When she gets up she wanted to meet you before going to work tonight."

"Oh." She said, quietly, "Why didn't you say that last night?"

He shrugged, "This is more amusing"

She marched over and hit him in the back of the head, "You jerk"

He grabbed the hand that was poised to hit him again and pulled her down next to him. Pulling and shoving until they were cuddled together, despite her struggling, Noah said, "Shh, sleep time now. You can yell at me in a few hours"

She glared at him and moved to get up but he held on tight, "Let me rephrase, sleep and cuddling time which means you need to stay right here."

"Noah, let me go, this is highly inappropriate and your mother could walk in at anytime."

He shrugged, "She'd be ecstatic if we were actually together, told you, she's planning the Jewish wedding already."

She tried to cover the yawn that came out, then but he saw and said, "Sleep, Rach. I gottcha"

For some reason those words seemed to comfort her and she found herself moving to make herself a little more comfortable before closing her eyes and doing just what he asked.

* * *

Next time they woke up it was to Debbie Puckerman yelling loudly on the outside of his door for them to get dressed and get out there for breakfast.

Rachel immediately turned red but Noah just scowled at being woken up again. They got up and he got dressed.

They walked out and down to the kitchen only for Rachel to immediately be swept into Debbie Puckerman's arms, "Oh you poor dear, Noah told me all about you and I cannot believe any parent would do that to a child."

She was going to go on, still clutching Rachel to her, but Noah stopped her, "Ma, she has to breath and I doubt she wants to talk about this right now"

Rachel was released with a last squeeze and a sympathetic look. "Thank you for allowing me to stay here last night, Mrs. Puckerman, it was very kind of you. I don't want to impose on you and your family thought and really I've been doing just fine at the dance studio…."

She was cut off by both Noah and his mom: Noah "You're staying" His mom, "Don't be ridiculous, you're staying right here"

Rachel didn't know how to take the two and before she had a chance to figure out how she was going to respond, Sarah spoke again, "Call me Debbie, dear, or Mom or Ma or anything but Mrs. Puckerman really. You're part of the family now and family isn't so formal."

Rachel felt tears pricking behind her eyes again at being called family, Debbie saw them and pulled her to her again and for once, Rachel let herself be held and cried without fighting it. She cried for the family she lost and the childhood she wouldn't get back. All of the hurt from the past four years came out in those tears as she was held by a woman she just met but strangely felt like home to her in a way.

When the tears finally slowed and she pulled out of Debbie's embrace, she saw that the older woman had tears in her eyes as well.

She heard Noah clear his throat so she turned and was surprised to see his eyes looked a little shiny too. He didn't say anything, just held his arms out and this time she went into them willingly, not pulling away as she did the night before. He held her tight and whispered, "I've gotcha, Rach and I'm not letting go"

She held him a little tighter, hearing those words and felt his return squeeze.

* * *

After the very emotional session with the Puckerman's, Rachel felt like she needed to burn off some energy so she told them that she was going to go for a run. Noah offered to go with her but she waved him off saying she needed some alone time. He didn't look like he liked it but he reluctantly agreed, saying he'd be here when she got back.

She smiled at him for that before turning to get her shoes on and shoot out the door. She didn't know where she was going, she just ran and ran. She wasn't use to sleeping that much so she had plenty of energy.

She ran down the street and made a turn, not really paying attention to where she was going until she looked up and realized her feet had taken her to her old house.

She wasn't surprised to see that her fathers no longer lived there. There was a for sale sign in the yard and looked like it had been empty for a while.

Sighing she turned back and headed towards Noah's not paying attention to where she was going and ran straight into someone.

"Oh I'm so sorry!" she immediately started, before seeing who it was. "Matt?"

"Hey Rach" He said, ruffling her hair, "Nice bumping into you" he winked at her then.

"I'm sorry, I should have been paying attention it's just...I just went past my old house for the first time...they're gone"

Matt looked at her confused, "You're dads?"

She nodded, and for some reason felt tears coming to her eyes, "I don't know why, after four years, I even care but... I didn't know they weren't still here, it's just..." and she couldn't even think of the words to describe how she was feeling. Matt seemed to understand what she meant though because he just wrapped his arms around her and hugged her as she pulled herself together, not allowing another breakdown like she had earlier.

After a few moments, she pulled back, "Thank you Matt, I'm sorry about that, it was just a shock."

He rolled his eyes as he said, "Rachel, we're friends, you're allowed to be upset sometimes around your friends so stop apologizing already"

Thinking that besides that time all those months ago when he told her about why they were now her friends, that was the most she had heard him say at once, she just nodded, "Thank you. But if you don't mind my asking, what are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be in school?"

He shrugged, "Puck said you two weren't coming today so Mike and I skipped too. I felt like a run so here I am"

"You live around here?" Rachel asked, having lived here all her life and realizing that she never knew where he lived.

He nodded, "Actually my house is right there," He pointed at a house a little ways down.

"Wow, I never knew we lived so close to one another. Strange huh?"

He nodded, not really knowing what to say to that so instead he said, "Want me to walk with you back to Puck's?"

Rachel shook her head quickly, "Oh no, I wouldn't want to interrupt your run. You go on, I'll be alright."

"Rach!" He yelled to stop her continuing words of not wanting to be a burden and what not, "I want to. I should have asked if you minded me walking with you. It's not like we've been able to hang out much outside of school."

Effectively shut up, she cocked her head at him, "You want too?"

He nodded, sighing that she hadn't caught on by now that they were friends and therefore he wanted to hang out with her.

She shrugged, "Sure, I guess that would be nice." She gave him a small smile and they both started the trek back to the Puckermans. Neither of them said much but that was alright, they were each just happy to have the other one by their side.

When they got back to the house, Matt said "Well, I guess this is it. I'm going to head back."

"Oh, you don't want to come in?" Rachel asked, confused by his sudden need to leave after saying he wanted to hang out"

He shook his head, "Debbie's home. If she sees me she'll tell my mom I skipped and that won't end well for me or Mike so I better not."

Rachel nodded, understandingly, "Alright. Well thank you for walking with me over here. It was nice."

Matt grinned hugging her, "Definitely. We'll have to go running together sometime."

"Sounds like a plan. I'll probably be running every morning so whenever."

"Ok. Tell Puck I said hey. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Bye, Matt" Rachel smiled up at him before walking into the house.

* * *

She was surprised at how after walking with Matt, even without talking about it, she felt better about her fathers and everything and also she was surprised how comfortable she felt just walking in the front door of the Puckerman's without knocking first.

"I'm home" She called into the quiet house.

"Hello" She called again when she didn't get an answer. Walking into the kitchen she saw it was cleaned up and empty so she looked into the living room and there was no one in there either so she walked upstairs only to hear voices coming from Noah's room.

"We have to call social services or something, Noah. They can't get away with neglecting their daughter for four years, whatever she said."

"Mom, if you call social services, they'll put her into a freakin' foster home. There's no way they'd let her stay here and you know it" She heard Noah answer angrily.

"Noah… You don't know that. I'm sure if we explain the situation, they'll be fine with her staying here besides she's sixteen so she'll get her own choice where she stays."

"Are you sure?" He asked, and Rachel smiled a little at the question in his voice, glad to hear he actually wanted her here and wasn't just saying it because it was the right thing to do.

"I promise, honey. If I thought for one second she wouldn't be allowed to stay with us, I wouldn't do it no matter the fact the bastards deserve to pay."

She was taken aback by the barely concealed anger in Debbie's voice and at what she called her fathers. She hadn't known her long but she seemed like a laid back easy going woman that didn't get shaken easily but she sounded positively furious when talking about her fathers.

"We need to talk to Rach before we do anything. It's her life and she's been running it by herself for years, she needs a heads up that mama Puckerman plans on taking control" Noah told her firmly.

That earned him yet another smile though he didn't see them.

"We'll talk to her when she gets back, but I'm telling you now, Noah, I'm going to talk to Social Services whatever she says."

"She'll be ok with it, I think, as long as she can stay here and not get sent away to some stranger."

Deciding she heard enough Rachel called again, "Noah? Debbie? I'm home."

* * *

"Oh Rachel, dear, I didn't hear you come in. Did you have a nice Run?" Debbie asked.

"It was lovely thank you. I was going to clean up the kitchen but I see you already did that. Is there anything else you'd like me to do around here?"

"Do you hear that, Noah? A child in this house asking if she can help. I don't know how to handle that, seeing as you lazy bums never lift a finger."

Rolling his eyes at his mom, he looked over at Rachel with a smirk, "Already working on becoming the favorite child, Berry? Don't worry you're a lock for the part." He winked at her to show he was playing and she just gave him a small smile in return.

"If there's nothing you needed, I think I'm going to go take a shower." Rachel said, unsure what else there was to say.

"Go ahead, Rachel and when you get out, I need to talk to you alright?"

Rachel nodded, before turning to what was going to be her room for the next two years and dug through trying to find something to wear finding nothing and calling for Noah.

"Yeah, Rach?" He asked from across the hall.

"Can I borrow a shirt and some shorts or something? I need to do laundry"

He chuckled before saying, "Sure, Ray, hold on a sec." he walked into his room and found the smallest shirt he had and a pair of basketball shorts, knowing both would be way too big for her but throwing them to her anyway.

"Thank you, Noah" She beamed at him.

"No problem. I'll get mom's credit card and we'll go shopping for some clothes after she goes to work."

"Oh no I couldn't…"

"Don't argue, you know you won't win" He interrupted her, "now go on" He waved her on and she rolled her eyes at him but knew he was right, as soon as he told Debbie she needed clothes she would probably hand him the card and force them out the door, there was no fighting it.

She shut the door and got ready for her shower, thinking about the talk she was about to have with Debbie. She knew she would agree with her calling social services as long as she was sure that they wouldn't take her away. With her fathers' gone, she doubted they'd even get in trouble but she didn't really care either way. Debbie was right, they did deserve it.

She also was trying to figure out how she got so lucky to stumble onto great friends like Noah, Matt and Mike. Without them, she'd still be struggling to do everything alone and though she was Rachel Berry and she would have made it just fine, it was nice to not have to do it alone anymore.

When she got out of the shower, she dried off and tied the shorts as tight as possible, which still made them loose, and put the shirt on that, though she was sure it was too small for Noah, was also incredibly too big for her. She brushed her hair and threw it into a messy pony tail and then looked at herself in the mirror.

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Frowning, she realized she had lost a lot of weight this year and even with all the sleep she had gotten the night before, she still had black circles under her eyes. 'Oh well, nothing I can do about it right now, might as well get out there and get this talk over with so I can get some clothes that fit me' she thought to herself before walking out, grabbing a load of her clothes and walking downstairs where Noah and Debbie were waiting in the living room.

"Do you mind if I start a load of laundry before we talk?" Rachel asked Debbie, who immediately looked up and saw the clothes in the girls hand and shook her head.

"No, that's fine go ahead. Noah go show her where everything is" Debbie ordered her son, who immediately jumped up and grabbed the clothes from Rachel, who protested she could carry them herself but he didn't listen just walked off leaving her to follow, which she did.

He showed her where the washer and dryer were and the cabinet that had the detergent and everything and then dumped her clothes in the washer and got it set up to go.

"Mom said to take you shopping for a couple outfits today and that she had a day off tomorrow so she was going to take you on a girls' day tomorrow."

"Oh, I don't want to take up her day off…." Rachel shook her head as she said it.

"You have no clue how happy she is to have you here do you?" Noah asked, not all that surprised, she seemed to be oblivious to those kinds of things.

"Why? I'm just another mouth to feed and body to house. Why would she be happy to have me here?" Rachel asked, "Not to say she hasn't been incredible, she has. I've never met an adult so nice before but still….I hate being a burden."

Noah reached out, putting his hands on either side of her face to make her look at him, "Listen up because I'm only going to say this once, alright?"

She nodded, looking confused but he continued, "My mom is happy to have you hear because you're an amazing girl. Anyone who has the privilege to actually get to know you can see that. You're not a burden at all to any of us so stop apologizing or saying you don't want to burden us because you're not. You're our friend and now family and family isn't a burden. They help each other; they look out for each other. I promise you that everything my mom and the rest of us are doing or offering to do isn't because we feel like we have to or that we should it's because we want too. I for one know for a fact that if the situation was reversed you'd be doing the same for any of us right?"

She nodded, slowly, tears prickling her eyes again but not coming out, "Then do me a favor and quit apologizing or trying to turn down the things we're offering and just know that it's what family does. I know you haven't had the best of examples of family before but you're not alone anymore so get used to it."

She sniffled, but nodded, slightly, since he still had a hold of her face. He moved his hands down to her shoulders and she hugged him tightly, "Thank you, Noah," She whispered.

"Anytime, Rach, I told you, I gotcha. I'll always be here" He promised, kissing the top of her head before pulling back, "Now come on, we have a mama Puckerman to talk to then a shopping trip to go on and then after that a little monster to watch because Dani's coming home tonight."

She grinned at that, "That'll be fun. Does she like to sing?"

Rolling his eyes, he groaned, "You two are going to be like best friends or something and I'm going to be outnumbered for the rest of my life aren't I?"

She nodded, "Yes, I'm sure that's true. Don't worry Noah, I'll let you win every once in a while" She winked before leaving to go to the living room, him staring after her, trying to figure her and her changing moods/personalities before shaking his head and figuring he had two years to figure her out so there's no need to rush it and followed her.

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**Alright I know I said two shot but I believe it's going to be longer than two chapters now because I couldn't possibly get everything I wanted to say into this chapter let alone in to even two more chapters so now that I am back on bored with this story, I'll get the next chapter up soon and that will have the talk about social services, shopping trip, meeting Dani and possibly the actual conversation with Social services. Matt and Mike will be back in the story as will Rachel's fathers farther on down the road. I want to thank you all again for the support I had in this story and I hope that I continue to work to your expectations. Have a great week!**


	3. Chapter 3

**This is just a short chapter to prove I haven't forgotten about this story. With the holidays coming up, I'm sure you all understand that it's harder and harder to find time to write especially since I work Retail so the hours are going to be crazy for a while but I promise to do my best! Thank you all for being so wonderful :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, I'm merely borrowing some of it's characters :) The credit and ownership goes to RM**

**Shoutout to my lovlies: Unsuspecting Sunday Afternoon, CherryPower, RavenWolf2089, GingerGleek and lwrnlnd**

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When they all got settled into the living room, Debbie looked at her watch and said, "I have to go into work in about 30 minutes so I'm sorry this is going to be a quick conversation but I needed to let you know some of the things that are going to happen now that you're living here, alright?"

Rachel knew what was coming but didn't feel like telling them she was eavesdropping so she just nodded to prove she understood and waited for Debbie to continue.

"Alright, Noah's told me that you don't want to take any action against your fathers' neglect because you don't want to be a ward of the state or go into the foster system. I understand that but I still need to report them. Seeing as your sixteen, as long as you tell them you want to stay here and I tell them it's alright it won't be an issue of custody so you won't have to worry about anything like that and those bast…I mean your fathers will both get what they deserve, alright?"

Rachel fought the little smile at hearing Debbie almost slip and call her dads bastards again but still she didn't know, "I don't think there's any point. I ran by my old house today and it's for sale and they moved so I don't even think they're around anymore. I'd really rather just leave it alone."

Debbie shook her head, "I'm sorry Rachel. I can't just leave it alone. Trust me, alright? It's for the best."

Frowning Rachel knew she wouldn't win so she just said, "Are you sure you don't mind me saying I want to stay here? If this is because you want me to go somewhere else…"

She heard Noah groan and Debbie interrupted her, "Honey, if I thought for one second they wouldn't let you stay here, I wouldn't be pushing this but legally, you can choose who you want to have custody of you because of your age so I promise you this is only because I want them to get what they deserve. I want you as part of this family and this way you will be in everyone's eyes, not just mine, okay?"

Rachel nodded, "If that's what you want.." She said, still sounding unsure.

Debbie checked her watch again before reaching over and hugging Rachel to her, "Rachel, it's going to take some getting used to but I want you to know that I'm here now and not going anywhere. I'm going to fight for you just like you're one of my kids, alright?"

Rachel nodded, head on Debbie's shoulder, "Thank you" She said softly.

Debbie kissed her temple, "There's nothing to thank me for." She replied, before pulling away and adding, "Now Noah mentioned you needed some clothing so I'm going to give you my credit card to buy a couple outfits for today and tomorrow then tomorrow you, me and Dani will have ourselves a girls day and get to know each other, alright?"

"You don't…" She stopped herself at the look Noah was giving her and changed it too, "That sounds amazing, thank you."

"Be good you two and Noah don't torment your sister when she gets home. I'll be back around 3 this morning so don't wait up." She said to them both before kissing the tops of both their heads and with a last wave she was out the door.

"You're mom's amazing" Rachel told Noah who nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, she kind of is" He agreed, with a smile, "So Ready to go?"

Rachel shook her head, "I have to wait for my clothes to dry. I can't go in this."

"Aw, why not, I think you look cute" he teased, taking in the way over sized clothes.

"I just bet you do, Puckerman, but the rest of the world isn't going to see me like this. I'm going to go throw them in the clothes in the dryer and then finish some homework; I suggest you do yours as well."

Rolling his eyes, he said, "Or we could watch this" And pulled out the new Wicked dvd he had tried to tempt her with the day before.

Her eyes lit up as she said, "Well I suppose we could always do our homework later…."

He grinned, "Yep now go get those clothes in the dryer, I'll pop us some popcorn. Want anything to drink?"

"Anything sounds wonderful, be right back."

She quickly threw her clothes in the dryer and started it before coming back and sitting on the couch waiting, smiling to herself.

During the movie, Noah kept his word from the day before and made no insulting comments and actually kept all of his comments to a minimum since he saw how enthralled Rachel was with the movie. The popcorn mostly sat forgotten on the table in front of them as Rachel watched the movie and Noah split his time watching the movie and watching Rachel watch the movie. Whenever they would sing, he would see Rachel sing along with the actors and the look on her face was one only seen when she sang and that was pure happiness and content. His main thought when he saw it was that 'it made her more beautiful than usual' and that was saying something.

When the movie came to an end, Rachel clapped before turning to Noah, "That was amazing, wasn't it? I've always wanted to go see it performed live but haven't had the opportunity yet. "

Noah nodded, pretending that he'd watched the whole thing, "It wasn't bad. I don't think I'd mind seeing it live if it came around here."

That made Rachel grin at him, happily, "I'll look up when they are going to come around here and maybe we can get tickets!"

"Sure, sounds good but until then, you think your clothes are done?"

"Oh right, yeah I'm sure they are. I'll be ready in a minute and we can go, alright? I'd hate to keep Dani waiting!"

"The little monster will be alright for a couple more hours don't worry. Take your time" he replied, to her back as she rushed out of the room towards the dryer, obviously not listening.

Shaking his head, he went to the door, slipping his shoes on and waited, ready to get this shopping trip over with, even if it meant uniting his sister and Rachel, an obvious unholy duo that would wreak havoc on his life.

"Ready" Rachel said, slipping her shoes on as she did.

Noah shook the thoughts of all the sing a longs and Disney movies he was going to have to sit through and smiled at the brunette, grabbing her hand and dragging her out towards his truck he said, "Great, let the fun begin!"

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**coming up, shopping trip, Dani and Rachel meeting for the first time, the call to social services, girls day(not all necessarily in that order) Have a great weekend!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, I've been trying to write this chapter for months, no joke, months but nothing came out. I had a 132 words when I sat down to write today and try again, after updating too late and starting a new berryford story, you should have been there. I didn't think it would happen today either but it did and it's finished. Not long like the first couple, I'm sorry but I wanted you all to know I haven't forgotten this story and am trying my best to finish it if only my muse would cooperate. I want to send a huge thank you to all of you who reviewed, favorite and alerted this story. A special thank you too Unsuspecting Sunday Afternoon(Julie who is my best friend on here, an amazing writer and the one that pushes me to write when I don't think I can, Lwrnld who reviews always make me smile for the rest of the day, bloodyblond who's review of last chapter pushed me to want to get back to the story and finally Ravenwolf2089 who's an amazing writer and a friend of mine on here who asked me the other day to get back to this story and it was because of her that I think I was finally able to sit down and finish the chapter. Thanks, Alex! I love you all! and hope you enjoy!**

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The shopping trip itself wasn't so bad in Noah's eyes. Him and Rachel walked into Macys at the mall and she found a couple of pairs of jeans that she liked on sale so those were added to the keep list. She fell in love with a blue short sleeved button up but when he told her to put in the cart she insisted it was to expensive. Rolling his eyes he grabbed it and threw it in the cart.

"NOAH!" She snapped, glaring a little as she tried to grab the shirt that he had grabbed, again, and was holding it out of her reach, "I don't need it and it's way to expensive. I'll find something more cost appropriate that I love just as much, just give me time."

He rolled his eyes but was glad she had said that, it gave him the perfect comeback, "Yeah, maybe but I don't want to be stuck shopping all afternoon. Time is money or whatever right? So getting this now, is in the long run cheaper."

She was trying not to laugh and he could tell as she said, "That made no sense whatsoever you realize that right?"

He glared at her while putting the shirt in the cart, "It's staying, midget, so deal with it."

She frowned but just shrugged and moved on to the clearance rack, not seeing the tiny victory dance he did behind her that was totally not bad ass but he felt was well deserved.

After that she found a couple more shirts and announced, "That's enough. Let's go pick up Dani!"

Noah frowned but nodded, "If you're sure...You know Mom's going to make you buy half the store tomorrow right?"

Rachel shook her head, "Debbie will do no such thing. She will have me buy a couple more things, I"m sure and some items that are more for girls eyes then boys but besides that it won't be that different."

He smirked, thinking 'she's in for a surprise tomorrow' as he threw an arm around her, leading her to the check out lane, "Sure babe, whatever you say."

She gave him a look, trying to figure out if he was actually agreeing with her or just being sarcastic but couldn't figure it out. Shrugging she made a point to ignore the total when Noah swiped the card so it wouldn't make her feel worse than she already did.

They walked out and Noah lead her to the food court. She followed but asked, "I thought we had to go pick up Dani."

Noah rolled his eyes, "She's fine, Ray. I promise. She's in no hurry to leave Satan's house. She's a demon child, she's right at home there."

"Noah, it's not nice or appropriate to talk about our teammate like that. I'm sure Santana is a wonderful girl once you get to know her with plenty of wonderful qualities."

"If that's true, I've yet to find any and I've known her since we were babies so good luck finding those but in the meantime, I'm hungry so we're going to eat before grabbing the brat, alright?"

Knowing there was no point in arguing, Rachel agreed.

After eating, they finally went to the car and heading to Santana's house. When they pulled up, Rachel turned to Noah, "Do you want me to wait in the car while you pick up Dani?"

"Why would you do that?" He asked, confused.

"I didn't know if you'd want Santana to know that you and I were hanging out. I know you two were an item earlier this year."

He snorted before saying, "Satan and I? An item? No. we were fuck buddies Ray and we're not even that anymore. Besides, even if we were, you're living with me now and everyone knows we're friends and have been for months so stop worrying, get your ass out of the car and meet you're new partner in crime."

She smiled at him, ignoring the foul language and just focusing on the nice parts. "Right, let's go!" she jumped out and was practically bouncing waiting for him to hurry up because despite her reservations about Santana and such, she was really excited to meet Dani.

Noah couldn't help but chuckle at her once again, mood shift as he led her up the walk to the door where he rang the bell and then turned and said quickly, "Don't let anything San may say, upset you alright? She can be a bitch but she is lying 95 percent of the time so just ignore her."

Rachel didn't get a chance to respond because the door opened and there was Santana, eyebrow arched at the unexpected company but she just moved out of the way and waved them both in, "The brats are playing a game so I doubt they're going to want you here yet"

"Too damn bad. We gotta get home." Noah responded before showing himself out towards what Rachel could only assume the girls were at.

"What are you doing here, Berry?" Santana asked, not mean, exactly, just curious.

"Oh, um Noah and I were out shopping and he said he needed to pick up Dani so here we are. If you want I can wait outside..."

Santana rolled her eyes but said, "Not what I meant. Just curious. I never see you outside of school. You and Puck together now or something?"

"She's living with me Lopez. Quit with the 20 questions and help me with the two demon children." Noah yelled.

Santana's mouth dropped, "You're living with him? What the hell did he do? Knock you up?"

"What? No! We most definitely never engaged in anything that would end up in pregnancy. What would possibly make you think that?"

Before she could answer, Noah came in the room, carrying a screaming girl who looked like she was 8 or 9.

"PUT ME DOWN! I"M NOT LEAVING YET. NOAH PUT ME DOWN! I'M GOING TO TELL MOM!"

"Hello Dani" Rachel said, causing the girl to stop yelling and turn her head to see who was there.

"RACHEL! RACHEL BERRY! Oh my goodness! What are you doing here? I love you! You're an amazing singer..." And she would have kept going but Noah set her down and promptly put his hand over her mouth.

"As I said, Ray, she loves you already. San quit with the questions. She has her reasons why she's living with us and you don't need to know them so back off. We're leaving now. Thanks for watching the demon." With that he led a now quiet Dani out the door, Rachel went to follow but was stopped by a hand on her arm.

She turned to Santana who was still looking confused but she said, "Hang on a sec."

She then turned and rummaged around grabbing a piece of paper and a pen. She wrote down something before handing the paper to Rachel. "It's my number. Call me if you want. We'll hang out. Talk."

Rachel looked at her, shock and sadly, suspicion in her eyes as she asked, "Why?"

Santana shrugged. "Because you seem different. Maybe you're not what I thought. I want to find out. Besides, Brit keeps saying she wants to be friends with you. Bout time I let her have her way."

"Really? This isn't some...I don't know trick or something because I'm living with Noah?"

Santana rolled her eyes and said, "Look, I'm not saying we're going to be BFF's and hang out doing each other's hair and nails. I'm saying you can call if you want. You don't have to, damn"

"I'm sorry" Rachel said softly, "I'll call but I better go."

"Yeah, whatever. Later" Santana said, waving though and giving a small smile that softened the not so friendly goodbye.

Rachel waved back, folding the paper and slipping in her pocket before turning and walking out the door, calling a quiet, "Bye" as she heard the door shut behind her.

She got in the truck and Noah raised an eyebrow at her, "What took so long?"

"Santana gave me her number and said her and I could talk if I wanted."

Noah frowned, "Don't trust her, Ray..."

"Santana's nice. Don't be mean to her" Dani snapped, stopping whatever Rachel was going to say and glaring at her brother.

"In what world are you living in kid?" Noah asked but didn't say anything else about Santana and instead said, "As you already know, this is Rachel. Rachel this is my kid sister Dani. Dani, Rach is going to be living with us from now on. Try not to driver her crazy, alright?"

Dani's eyes widened, "You're going to be living with us? Really?" She asked, looking at Rachel.

"Rachel nodded, smiling at the small girl, who suddenly looked so happy and so much different from the screaming child Noah had carried in.

"Does that make you my sister?"

Rachel thought about that for a moment before saying, "I suppose in a way, if you want it to mean that, it does."

"Wow! I can't believe it! I finally have an older sister and it's Rachel Berry. No one's going to believe me at school Monday!"

Noah rolled his eyes but couldn't help the smile on his face. No matter what he said, he loved his sister despite how much of a brat she could be and he was happy that by helping Rachel, they were also making the kid's dreams come true even if he wasn't ever going to get peace again with these two running his house.

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**Finally Chapter 4 is done. Sorry it took so long. I'm starting on 5 but my sis is coming this week so it may be a bit but it won't be months hopefully! Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for all the support. I can't believe how awesome you all are! Girls day, social services, more mike and Matt to come! Also, noah/Rachel and NOah/Rachel/Dani time so stay tuned!**


	5. Chapter 5

**No you're not dreaming, This is an actual update, months and months too late but an update all the same. Like I said in my new chapter of too late, I've got no excuse good enough and am not planning on making promises I can't keep, I'm just going to say I'm sorry for the long wait, thank you for those of you who are still with me after this long absence and I'll try my best to shorten the wait between chapters. That being said, thank you for the overwhelming support I've gotten for this story! You are all amazing! **

**Special shoutout to Julie (Unsuspecting Sunday Afternoon) and Alex (Ravenwolf2089) who are amazing friends and writers! **

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"Rachel?"

"Yep?"

"Will you sing with me?"

Rachel looked a little taken back. They had just pulled into the driveway and Rachel had been opening the door to let them both out but she turned back and blinked, smiling at the small girl before replying, "I'd love too. Let's go inside and find something, how about it?"

Dani nodded, and the girls got out, ignoring the groan that came from Noah who was thinking about how right he was that he was never going to hear the end of the showtunes and Disney now they were both living with him and it was starting early.

Inside, Dani hurried to show Rachel her cd collection, as well as her dvd collection; which contained all disney and musical dvds, of course. After that, they finally selected a song they both agreed on and giggling, they turned to Noah, who had been ignoring them, watching tv.

"Noah" Rachel started, interrupting the show he was watching and his thoughts, "We'd like to perform a song for you."

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes, and forced a smile on his face, reminding himself that the carefree Rachel before him was a much happier one then the other one he's seen before. "Sure, but can it wait for a com.." He cut off when she shut his tv off and Dani joined her on their 'stage' "Or not.." He finished.

"We're going to sing" Rachel started

Dani quickly finished, excitedly, with "A whole New World"

Noah really smiled at that because as far as kid movies and musicals went, Aladdin was pretty kick ass.

Rachel started but Dani quickly joined in and despite the fact Rachel was in glee with him, he was still blown away by her voice. Not to mention that Dani really wasn't half bad herself.

By the time they got to the chorus the second time, he found himself humming along and not even caring. As the song ended, he clapped and there was another clap from the door.

"Mommy!" Dani yelled running to hug her.

"Mom? What are you doing home?" Noah asked, confused.

Rachel was watching the interaction quietly, smiling.

"I told my boss part of what was going on and he sent me home early, with pay, telling me to go get to know my new daughter" she smiled at Rachel as she said it.

"Wow, that's really nice of him..." Rachel started, unsure what to say and still not used to being welcomed as a daughter.

Debbie laughed, "Yes, well after all the doubles and late shifts I work for him, I've earned it, I think, so... Who wants to go out for dinner tonight? Our first family dinner."

After that, the kids all got up to get ready to go out. Rachel showing Debbie the new clothes she had bought with Noah, Dani going on about how cool it was that she was now Rachel Berry's sister and Noah just quietly watching the three women with a small smile on his face.

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They pulled into a quiet little Italian restaurant about 30 minutes out of town and Dani cheered.

Rachel turned to the small girl, confused until Noah told her, "This is Dani's all time favorite place to go eat. We take her hear for her birthday and whenever she makes honer role."

"And now I get a new sister AND I get alfredo" Dani said with a grin jumping out of the car and waiting impatiently for the other three to follow.

Debbie smiled indulgently at Dani before grabbing the little girls hand and leading them towards the restaurant. "I hope you like Italian" Noah whispered, "Because this about the only place we ever go to eat out"

Rachel smiled, saying "I love Italian"

"See, she's a Puckerman already" Debbie said, over her shoulder after hearing Rachel's answer. Rachel blushed and Noah grinned, mouthing 'Told ya so'

Rachel just smiled, still blushing, and took Noah's offered arm, following Debbie and Dani into the restaurant.

They were led to a table in a quiet corner of the room, and once their drink orders were taken, they were left alone and for about five seconds there was complete silent as they all looked at each other before Dani burst in, "Today's the best day ever"

Debbie nodded, smiling, "It's definitely been a day to remember. Noah my camera's in my purse, remind me to get a picture of all of us for the wall"

Noah groaned but quickly turned it into a cough at the glare he was getting from his mom and nodded, saying "Are you sure you don't want to get it now before squirt gets her clothes all dirty from the pasta?"

Dani stuck her tongue out at Noah, making Rachel giggle before covering her mouth, trying to smoother the laughter, as Dani started pouting. This exchange had been ignored by Debbie, who had dug her camera out, agreeing with her son's words.

She looked around and saw a waitress coming over, the girl smiled and said, "Hi my name's Callie and I'll be your waitress today. Have you decided what you'd like or do you need a few more minutes to look over the menu?"

Debbie smiled at her, pleasantly, answering "We know what we'd like but first, would you mind taking a picture for us?"

"Sure, no problem" Callie replied, smiling and taking the camera. Debbie quickly showed her how to use it before getting the rest of them arranged how she wanted. They all turned and faced the camera, smiling.

Callie took the picture and showed it too Debbie, who nodded her approval before letting them get back to their seats. They ordered and then Debbie showed the picture around, handing the camera to Rachel as she said, happily, "Our first family photo"

"It's lovely" Rachel replied, smiling softly down at the picture before passing it too Dani who was bouncing beside her waiting to see it.

"Wow, Rachel you look really pretty. Mom can I take this to school to prove to everyone that Rachel really is my new sister?"

Debbie nodded, "I'll print you a copy dear but I'm sure everyone would believe you either way"

Noah was now staring down at the picture, surprised at how easily his three person family had become four with no real complications. You know if you don't count the fact the girl still argued with everything they tried to give her and the fact they still had to deal with the social services and school but besides all that, it was a relatively easy transition.

"Now I know that this is all new and you just moved in yesterday, and we have already had one tough talk today but I figure we should probably lay some ground rules, get those out of the way" Debbie said, snapping Noah's head up as he watched Rachel nod, looking seriously at his mom, who though smiling, was looking serious as well.

"Okay" Rachel said softly, looking as if she was already reverting back to the outsider and not the family member she had felt like mere moments ago.

"Don't look so serious, it's nothing bad and you've not done anything wrong" Debbie started, noticing the same thing he had, even Dani must notice for the squirt to keep her mouth shut for more than five seconds.

Rachel tried to smile but it wasn't her best show face and they all knew it.

"I just wanted to say, now that we're living together, I just wanted to let you know that I expect from you the same as I'd expect from Noah or Dani. Keep your room tidy..."

"Or at least shut the door so she doesn't notice" Noah interjected.

Giggling, Dani added "Or shove it all in your closet and shut the door"

Rachel smiled at them while Debbie shook her head, trying to look stern while hiding the smile she was sporting and continued, "Let me know where you are if you aren't coming right home and try to give me some warning if your friends are coming over. I know, with my work schedule, that's not always possible and I know from Noah you're friends with Matt and Mike, they're of course welcome anytime."

"Yea, Chang and Rutherford are over all the time, eating all our food" Noah fake complained.

"And hogging the tv" Dani complained, rolling her eyes, "And Mike always messes up my hair and calls me munchkin"

Their food showed up then, interrupting them as Callie passed out the plates.

Rachel took a bite and closed her eyes savoring the taste before saying, "This is amazing!"

Dani nodded, asking, "Can I try your...what'd you get?"

"Baked ziti" Rachel answered pushing her plate closer to the girl so she could get a bite.

After swallowing, Dani's eyes lit up, "This is almost as good as my alfredo, here try" Rachel did try it and Dani was right, it was great. She preferred her own dish but she had a feeling she'd be getting a new dish every time she came here now.

Debbie smiled at the girls, halting her mini lecture for the time being, and observing. Rachel and Dani obviously were meant to be sisters but as she watched her son watching Rachel her smile grew into a grin, he definitely wasn't meant to be Rachel's brother and Debbie was already planning every big event leading up to the engagement and eventual wedding and many Jewish grandbabies.

"Are you alright Mom?" Noah asked from beside her.

"Huh? Oh yes Noah, why wouldn't I be?"

"You're staring at me" He told her, arching an eyebrow at her behavior.

"Sorry, anyway yeah, back to what we were saying, Rules. Um.. If you have a boyfriend over, keep the door open, not that Noah ever brings a girl home but you are getting to that age where you get curious and..."

"Mom" Noah groaned as Rachel turned scarlet.

"What? Oh sorry, right of course. Well that's all I can think of. I'm sure there's more but it's mostly common sense and I'm sure you'll have no problem following them. OHH I almost forgot the calender."

"Calender?" Rachel asked.

Noah answered her question. "It's hanging on the fridge. Any big event you have. Glee competition, dance recital, major football game, you write on the calender so Mom can get it off"

"You want me to write mine down too?" Rachel asked, surprised.

Debbie smiled, while Noah rolled his eyes at her, "Of course. I always try to make it to all of my childrens' events. You work hard on them so i feel I should watch them. Someone needs to be able to tell your children all about how cute you guys were."

Rachel felt tears starting to prickle the back of her eyes again at so easily being counted as one of Debbie Puckerman's children. Sure she'd been saying it all day but including her in this precious family tradition is what sealed the deal for her. She finally realized this woman meant what she'd been saying all along and for the first time in years, Rachel felt like she really did have a family. That she wasn't alone anymore.

* * *

**The end...just kidding though it could end there if I was a cruel person. I'm still going to write the girls day, social services and Mike and Matt will come back, along with Santana and Brit. Thank you for your patience!**


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